Awaiting the corner kick, sophomore goalkeeper Jose Sanchez shouted commands and patted his gloves together ready to defend his goal. Time after time, he blocked shots giving his team a chance to win the game.

The EC men’s soccer team came from behind and tied 1-1 on Friday when it hosted Mt. San Antonio College. Sanchez made 10 saves in the match including eight in the first half.

“I was doing good in practice and how you practice, is how you play,” Sanchez said. “The main point is confidence and that we trust each other. If (my teammates) trust me I trust them.”

Questionable early fouls against EC caused an uproar on the Warriors’ bench. The referee marked two soft fouls in Mt. Sac’s favor around the 30-minute mark but failed to reward EC when they were fouled.

“It was a physical game where (the referee) could’ve protected a few players a little more,” Morataya said. “I think he did a decent job. We were a little careless making silly fouls that were very avoidable and some were just the way the ref saw them, so we went by them.”

EC conceded a goal right before halftime. The Warriors did not seem deterred by the goal as they started the second half attacking ruthlessly and almost equalized from three opportunities.

“It goes back to the same thing, keeping our composure and focusing on what we have to do,” freshman defender Emmanuel Corona said. “Even though we were down 1-0 we still managed to keep our composure and our mentality was still there. We focused and that’s all that mattered when the final whistle blew.”

The Warriors’ equalizer came from a corner kick in the 79th minute. Sophomore midfielder Charlie Gonzalez crossed the ball into the penalty box and Corona headed an inch-perfect pass to sophomore defender Luis Najero who headed the ball into the goal and tied the game. Najero said he was in the right place at the right time for the shot.

“It was a great goal; something that we don’t work much on in practice at all,” Morataya added. “We’ve been fortunate enough to score a lot of goals like that this season.”

The EC men’s soccer team went into the game ranked eighth in the latest California Community College Athletic Association state poll. The Warriors play at East Los Angeles College on Oct. 28.